Mission Work, Part Two

Typically when Christians attempt to answer the problem of missionary evangelism they look to the Bible to support their claims, using verses like Matthew 28:16-20 (called the Great Commission)

"Then the eleven disciples went to Galilee, to the mountain where Jesus had told them to go. When they saw him, they worshiped him; but some doubted. Then Jesus came to them and said, 'All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in[a] the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.'"

This particular post will be about why in this discussion this look to Scripture is not available to us. Plainly, it begs the question we seek to answer.

Evangelism asserts something important regarding Christianity: Christianity is the only truth faith. This may seem a trivial point, but assure you, it is anything but. I admit that there may be other ways of expressing the nature of Christianity's truth, but this seems to be the most common one, and seems before analysis to be required of all believers in order that they be logically consistent.

So why is this a problem? Let me explain by way of example.

Ithano is a young man who has grown up with the Makitharo people. The Makitharo believe that the whole world was once created by Ze'ah, the Serpent God, who cast the whole of existence into its current shape, bringing together the primal elements of Earth, Wind, Fire, Water, and Spirit. The Makitharo people believe that those who live on the earth (as all humans do) are obligated to worship Ze'ah, and that if anyone doesn't, they will be buried in the earth for eternity when they die, their spirits unable to cross the cosmos to the edge of the universe and into Ze'ah's heaven-home.

Concerned for the spirits of us non-Makitharo, Ithano learns English and trains with the shaman's of the Makitharo people, memorizing the holy Zehta, the Makitharo's holy book in order to convince non-Makitharo people that the Makitharo beliefs are true.

Now suppose that Ithano showed up at your doorstep and tried to explain to you that you needed to believe and worship Ze'ah in order to free your spirit in the afterlife. If you asked Ithano how he knew this he would say "the Zehta says so. Book 7 of the Shaman Majin, line 72 says "Then Ze'ha spoke through Majin saying 'Go and free the spirits of all nations, releasing them in my name."

What are we to make of this story? Here's what I take from it. Ithano believes what he believes about evangelism because his holy book says so. Christians typically believe what they believe about evangelism because the Bible says so. Christians would be inclined to say that Ithano is wrong and that he doesn't have the truth. Ithano might believe the same about Christians. How are we to judge this?

What I hope to demonstrate here is the problem involved with just referring to Scriptures in order to prove a point. Anyone of another religion can do the same. This pointing to Scriptures does not justify or prove our culture any more than Ithano's pointing to the Zehta does.

The bible is an artifact of Christian culture, just as the Zehta is an artifact of the Makitharo culture. To refer to the Bible in order to prove the rightness of evangelism is to say "See, this artifact that my culture produced proves my culture is right."

In order that I am not misunderstood, I want to be clear on one point. I am not here claiming that the Bible is somehow false, (though honestly, I'm not sure what it would mean for a collection of poems, letters, mythology, histories, and other stories to be true or false.)Instead, I'm saying if we are going to explore the question of missionary evangelism, we are not able to use the Bible in order to prove ourselves right. It's self-referential, and as such, it defeats the purpose entirely.

What do you think about this? Do you think that we can and should use Scripture as a backing for evangelism? If so, how do you avoid the problem of Ithano? Have I been to reductive in my thinking? Is there a better, more honest path to tread here?